It was not long after humans learned to cut paper that they probably began experimenting with methods of creating decorative edges to enhance the messages, poems, or artwork they put on the paper as a way to convey messages and feelings to others. While today the means by which people communicate with others has expanded dramatically beyond simple paper objects—from the telephone to the internet—a nicely arranged note or poem on a piece of paper with an artistically created decorative edge remains a classic way to pass on a thought to another person. Today, the fabrication of ornamentally configured paper objects is a basic element of every elementary and secondary school curriculum. Additionally, the rising popularity of “scrap booking”, that is, creatively collecting and sharing personal memories through exchange of hand-crafted scrapbooks has put a further premium on methods of creating decoratively shaped edges to paper, cardboard, and other flat materials. It has been reported that nearly 25% of U.S. households participate in “scrap booking” in one form or another, resulting in an industry which has increased in volume from $1.4 billion in 2002 to $2.55 billion in 2004.
The basic instruments used to cut paper, cardboard, and other flat materials are scissors and paper cutters. Most scissors have straight cutting surfaces, resulting in straight cuts. Cropping scissors have been manufactured to add a decorative edge in a variety of shapes to trimmed objects. However, since the average cut length from cropping scissors is around four inches, it is necessary to realign the scissors with each section cut so that the patent of the cut flows artistically from one cut to another. A failure by the user to take the time to line up each cut will result in a trimmed edge which will be marred every four inches by a pattern which abruptly stops and is continued with an incongruous section of the same pattern. In addition, a failure to line up each cut so as to continue the pattern may lead to torn or ripped edges, further destroying the artistic look desired by the user. An additional problem with cropping scissors is that the blades are not interchangeable, thereby forcing a person wanting to make a variety of decorative edged cuts to buy a variety of cropping scissors.
Another method of attempting to make decorative cuts is found in lining up a knife blade over an ornamental pattern, then using the knife to trace out and cut the paper, using the ornamental pattern as a guide. This method, in addition to the inherently safety concerns surrounding have a user, particularly a young child, using a knife sharp enough to cut paper, is limited by the manual dexterity of the user.
Thus, there has existed a need for a safe and efficient means to make decorative edged cuts on paper, cardboard, and other flat materials.
There exists prior art which discloses a number of inventions which have tried to accomplish this goal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,928 by Lariviere teaches the use of a template having a plurality of patterns, mounding at least one graphic art object with adhesive-coated substrate to form a work piece, arranging the template over the work piece, and then drawing a cutting blade along the portion of the template defining the selected pattern, to cut along lines conforming to the selected pattern. While Lariviere's device was intended to cut collage puzzle pieces, it does effectively offer a method of putting decorative edges on flat objects such as paper and cardboard. Due to its reliance on sharp cutting knives, held in the hand by a user, it presents obvious safety concerns and would prove very time consuming should a user want to use one of the cutting channels to create the edge to a postcard or letter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,051 to Carlson concerns a shape cutting system comprising a blade assembly positioned to engage at least one periphery and the edge of an opening of a template, thereby enabling the blade to cut a shape in the material which assimilates the shape of at least a portion of the periphery and edge of the template. While Carlson's invention at least partially alleviates the traditional safety concerns by having the cutting blade recessed within a cutting unit, the device is used for cutting out decorative shapes rather than providing decorative edges to flat materials.
Other shape-cutting devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,733,081 and 5,100,270 to Dowdle, which deal, again, with cutting apertures in mat board rather than trimming decorative edges onto paper and cardboard, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,025 to Rubel, which teaches a method of cutting strip material in a straight line, rather than decorative edges.
Paper cutters are traditionally guillotine-like devices with a flat base plate and a partially rotatable lever arm, both of which have vertically aligned cutting blades which cut paper and other objects in a guillotine-like fashion. Unfortunately, along with paper these cutting devices can also cut fingers and other undesired cutting objects which are mistakenly laid in the path of the blades. While most paper cutters now come with safety devices in the form of raised barriers intended to prevent a user from accidentally cutting his or her fingers in the paper cutter, the reliance upon two vertically aligned, sharp cutting blades continues to prove a danger to children, those with limited dexterity, and heavy industrial users of these devices who desire to pay low liability insurance rates.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,117 to Spaulding teaches a device for cutting sheet material such as paper and cardboard which is designed for safe use by children. With Spaulding's device, the sheet to be cut is placed upon a base with one side positioned against a guide rule fixed in the top surface of the board and extending perpendicularly to the rail, which has detachable blades within a blade holder mounted therein. When the rail is moved downward to clamp the sheet against the board, the lower cutting edges of the blades extending into the slot formed in the board sever the sheet as the blade holder is moved along the board. By recessing the blade within a sliding cutting unit, this invention also alleviates at least some of safety concerns, but it can only make a straight cut—not the decorative edged cuts made possible by the current invention.
Another approach to the safety issue is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,011 to Lee. This device is a paper cutter having a safety device, which comprises a safety latch movably attached to a cutting arm which has a safety latch base catch for engaging with a bottom surface of an extended portion of the base, an arm catch for engaging with the top surface of the arm, and a trigger for allowing a user to rotate the safety latch about the axis point to a position where the base catch disengages the extended base portion. As with Spaulding's invention, Lee's device enhances the safe operation of a method of cutting paper, but allows for only straight-edged cuts to be made.
The current invention meets the long-felt need for a paper cutting and trimming apparatus with decorative-edged cutting shears, which can be used conveniently and safely to provide a wide variety of decorative edged cuts in paper, cardboard, photos, and other flat objects, and to do so with cutting templates long enough to avoid the necessity of lining up cropping scissors every four or five inches. The current invention goes beyond meeting this need, by also teaching a system by which a variety of decorative edges can be cut by one device through the use of interchangeable cutting assemblies, which are stored in a convenient series of channels underneath the invention's base plate.